In one aspect, the invention relates to the use of laser radiation to promote or enhance vascular or other growth in a thus-irradiated local area of living body tissue, and in another aspect, the invention pertains to laser aseptic phototherapy.
In their paper, "Some New Findings on Retinal Irradiation by Krypton and Argon Lasers",* J. Marshall, et al. review the histopathology of the acute effects of krypton and argon laser radiation on the human retina, and these effects are related to their long-term pathology by observations on diabetics. Emphasis was on laser photocoagulation but some "surprising findings" were reported involving proliferation of vascular endothelial cells adjacent the reaction site. And in a later paper, "He-Ne Laser Stimulation of Human Fibroblast Proliferation and Attachment in Vitro",** coauthored by J. Marshall, laboratory studies are reported for laser-irradiated cultures of excised human tissues, wherein the irradiation source was a 1 mW helium-neon laser providing a coherent source at 633-nm, wherein the irradiation was chopped at 100 Hz, to provide a 50 percent duty cycle; for each experiment, a comparative run was made involving monochromatic incoherent light via a 640-nm interference filter (bandwidth 9 nm), adjusted for intensity comparable with that of laser delivery to an identical culture. The reported result was that, at 24 and at 48 hours after 15-minute exposure, the particular laser-irradiated cultures exhibited a significant increase in the number of cells in comparison with their respective non-irradiated controls, while no significant change in cell counts was observed between irradiated and control circuits in experiments with the incoherent source.
* Docum. Ophthal. Proc. Series, Vol. 36, pp. 21-37, 1984, Dr. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague.
** Lasers in the Life Sciences 1(2), 1986 pp. 125-134, Harwood Academic Publishers GmbH.
In said application Ser. No. 148,980, two laser systems are described for enhanced vascular and other growth, and the added material of the present application pertains to use of the same or similar apparatus for laser aseptic phototherapy.